STORYBOARD
NEET, dirty politics & blood money that turn children into martyrs
ARUN RAM
14.09.2020
There’s no pain like losing one’s child, more so when the child takes his/her own life. Parents of Jothi Sri Durga, 19, M Aadithya, 20, and M Mothilal, 21, who hanged themselves on Saturday, may never come out of it fully. Similar is the plight of parents of more than 10,335 students who died by suicide in the country last year. Of them, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,577 were driven to suicide because of failure in exams.
But not everyone on the list makes it to the media. Jothi, Aadithya and Mothilal, as also V Vignesh of Ariyalur who died by suicide last Wednesday, did. They were all NEET aspirants from Tamil Nadu, where virtually every political party is in the race to lead the campaign against the medical entrance exam. While Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a solatium of 7 lakh to Vignesh’s family, DMK president M K Stalin has promised that the party, once it comes to power, will “abolish” NEET (of course, he knows that the state can’t do that).
This is politics most foul. No doubt, a majority of our children in rural areas can neither access nor afford special coaching for competitive exams, which have become a prerequisite for clearing such exams (TN government statistics show only 1.6% of students without special coaching cleared NEET last year). But, after living in denial of the emerging reality of competitive exams and not providing our children the wherewithal to compete with their urban peers, our governments are trying to turn their failure into an excuse to oppose NEET, and the victims into martyrs and causes célèbres.
It was only a couple of years ago that the Tamil Nadu government revised its school syllabus, which had remained outdated for decades, all the while prompting children to practice rote learning to clear state board exams with high scores that would get them into professional courses. And, in 2017, when rural TN students had to take NEET along with the rest of the country, some – pushed further by parents – struggled, some succumbed.
Politicians who call for abolition of NEET know well that such competitive exams are here to stay, they could only get tougher (the soundness of these tests is a subject of another debate). They also know student suicides are linked not just to NEET, but also to JEE, UPSC exams and even school board exams. Will they call for abolishing all these exams? Will the government provide solatium to families of school students who die by suicide for fear of school board exams?
NEET became the TN politician’s high striker after MBBS aspirant and school topper Anitha’s death on September 1, 2017. The dalit girl from Ariyalur, who would’ve easily got into a government medical college if the Class XII score was the sole criterion, had impleaded herself in the state government’s petition in the Supreme Court against NEET. Nine days after the apex court dismissed the plea, she hanged herself. While our heart goes out to Anitha and others who couldn’t fulfil their aspirations, we should also hold responsible the governments that denied them equality of resources and opportunity. There’s blood on the hands that give the solatium.
Coaching classes for competitive exams thrive because our children are trained to mug up in classrooms without learning concepts. This is changing, but it may take a decade before the first batch of students pass out of Tamil Nadu schools after 12 years of learning under the new and evolving syllabus that could empower them with conceptual and perspective analytical skills as much as knowledge. Till then, we can’t afford to lose more young lives that could be nurtured for the nation’s development, not just as doctors, but also as artists, farmers, teachers, writers – and just about anything as meaningful – and their own happiness.
arun.ram@timesgroup.com
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